The therapist
by SomeoneOnThisWorld
Summary: my version, how Robin and Barney got engaged. It contains spoilers for Splitsville! also, the title will be changed :P enjoy and please review at the end :D
1. Chapter 1

Disclamer: I don't own the characters and I borrowed some lines from the show too, but it isn't really important :P enjoy and please review at the end!

_Kids, in the winter of 2012 your uncle Barney was dealing with many thing none of us knew of ..._

"Hey, guys, what's up?" asked Barney, when came to our booth, where Robin and I were sitting. He sat next to Robin and I don't think he really noticed me. His eyes were almost mostly on Robin, like they always were when she was around. At first I didn't notice, but then one day, when Lily, Marshall and I were going through some of the photos with Marvin ...

_On one picture, Robin was sitting on the couch with Marvin the birthday boy (he was 6 months old and Lily thought it was a good idea to throw him his first birthday party, celebrating half a year of his life) on her lap and Barney and I were sitting next to her. I was looking at Lily, holding the camera, taking the picture, Robin looked a bit scared of Marvin who was shoving one of his toys, covered in spit, in her face and Barney was smiling at the sight, but looking at Robin's face._

_On another one, Robin and Barney were lying on their stomachs with puppets on their hands, entertaining Marvin in between Lily and Marshall on the floor. Robin was making a goofy face, showing he tongue and Barney's puppet was on top of her head. He was looking at her and smiling._

_Then there was the third one that actually got us thinking. It was a nice group photo, the first one with Marvin, and we were all sitting on the couch. The happy little family in the middle, I was on the left, next to Marshall and Robin and Barney were on the right. Every one was looking at the camera except for two people. Marvin, who was suddenly fascinated with the coffee table (or maybe with one of the toys on it) and Barney was looking at Robin, with just the corner of his eye._

Ever since Barney has poured his heart out to Robin in Splitsville, he's been acting different. He often disappeared somewhere, and he started being more careful with what he said to anyone and he has almost completely stopped sleeping around. No one knew why, but it was oblivious that Barney was hiding something. I even joined to one of LIly and Marshall's long term bets about what it was. Robin, on the other hand, didn't notice anything strange about Barney.

"Schmosby can't get over the fact he needed to fail one of his students," said Robin and took a sip of her scotch while looking at me with one eyebrow raised up.

I took another sip of my beer.

"He was such a good student!" I cried. "He had this great vision about buildings in the future and his life goal was to build a skyscraper. I saw myself in him."

"He was your number one fan, I'm guessing," Barney said and he was right. As much as I liked that kid, he was very open about how he admired me and my work.

"He was and I was very flattered at first," I said and sighed. "But then things started get a little weird."

_"Mister Mosby, I got you a new DVD of the James Bond's new movie, the Skyfall," Robbie, the redhead boy, very small for his age said, put a DVD on my table. He laughed. "Get it? SKYfall? And you once designed a SKYscraper! Hilarious!"_

_"Mister Mosby, I designed a sky scraper too," said Robbie as he rushed over to me. He opened up the paper in his hands and my eyes looked upon the same design I had for the building, with just a little difference. Robbie said, "Your design was an inspiration and to honor you even more, put your face here, where the GNB sign was supposed to be."_

"He put your head on the building you designed?" asked Barney. He glanced at Robin once again and she looked at him too. When their eyes met, they both started laughing.

"Well, that's something I wouldn't want to see every day I go to work," joked Robin.

"Yeah, having to look one of your faces is enough," joked Barney too. This went on for ages. Everything was about how would it be, if there were two minds of Ted Mosby. They joked about my love for poetry and many romantic stuff I did, that they thought it was kind of cheesy. The last comment was about how two Ted Mosby heads would mean twice as much not wearing suits – surprisingly, this one didn't came from Barney.

Robin stopped laughing when she noticed we were taken aback with what she said. She looked at me and then at Barney. He was trying desperately to hide a smile that was creeping onto his face.

"Oh, god. I've hanging too much with Barney lately," she sighed and quickly finished her scotch. It wasn't true. She almost never hung out with him alone since her break-up with Nick. She was still angry with him, because he sent that BFF fun day invitation to Patrice.

"Anyways," I started slowly, changing the topic. I wanted to get Robin out of the unpleasant comments Barney had already prepared in his mind. "After that I decided I couldn't take it anymore, I had to fail him. And now I feel awful."

"Aw, don't cry Ted. I'm sure, you can do something about it," said Barney sympathetically, which surprised me. And then of course the punch line was heading right towards me. "You can rent the Notebook and get some ice-cream. The heartbreak will be over sooner than you can imagine."

"Oh, yeah, and do you still have that DVD, the Skyfall?" asked Robin.

"Yeah, sure, why?" asked Ted.

"I want to watch it. It's probably an awesome movie," smirked Robin. "A hot guy in a suit saving the day. It's every girl's dream to see it."

"Okay, I have to go," said Barney and stood up.

"But you just got here," I complained.

"Yeah, I have this ... Thing," Barney said.

"What thing?" I asked.

"Umm, it's ... Aha! There's a new laser tag place Downtown. I'm going to check it out," Barney lied. He went away and while walking to the exit, he took out his phone and greeted Marshall and Lily, when they came in.

"Where's Barney going?" asked Marshall when they sat down next to us.

"He lied about going to laser tag," I said and turned to Robin, looking confused. "Okay, what is it with you and suits?"

"I don't know," Robin shrugged. A smile crept on her face as an image of Barney came to her mind. "I guess suddenly I think suits are hot."

"Is there any possibility that ..." "There's a certain someone who wears suits and makes you feel hot?" Marshall started and then let LIly to complete his sentence.

"Yeah, it's Barney!" Robin exclaimed in a mocking high pitched voice that was known to us as he truth voice.

"Oh, my god, you have feelings for Barney!" Lily exclaimed happily. Robin snorted.

"No, I don't. I even hate him at the moment. He got my worst enemy thinking we're best friends and he broke up a perfectly nice relation I had with Nick," she said and ordered another scotch, when Wendy the waitress came by.

"Nick thought dolphins weren't real," I pointed out.

"And you said it got your heart pounding like a drum, when Barney said those things," said Lily.

"Lily!" Robin exclaimed.

"It did sound true," Marshall said. Robin's badass personality suddenly changed into, well, my personality, as everyone would describe.

"Oh, it did, didn't it?" she asked with a happy smile on her face. And then she became Robin again. "I mean, not that I care."

"Then why are you blushing and smiling?" I asked her.

"I'm not," she said, but the smile on her face only got bigger.

"Well he could also say something like that because he once said something similar to Nora or Quinn," LIly said and looked at me and Marshall like she wanted to tell us to follow her lead.

"Or maybe to that girl he was in love with when he was a hippie," I remembered. Robin's smile started fading slowly. It first left her eyes and then the corners of her mouth started to lower.

"Or he could just say that to get laid," Marshall also said and this finally did the trick.

"No!" Robin cried. "He said it and he meant it for me! I could see it ... I think."

"Oh, my gosh, you really do care for him!" I exclaimed.

"No, I don't he's just my friend. And I hate him. You can't forget that I hate him for what he did a few weeks back," Robin denied it again.

"Girl you have it baaaad," Marshall said in his southern female voice with which he gave the best advices and said what needed to be said.

"No way!" Robin said. "And don't go all southern on me, Erickson!"

And while we were in the bar trying to be Robin's therapists, Barney got a therapy of his own.

He didn't tell us this until long after I got married and when this was going on, none of us had any clue it was.

Shortly after Barney confessed his love to Robin, when she tried to break-up with Nick, he realized he couldn't go on with his life without Robin in his arms. So he got himself a therapist to help him get over her.

Barney was standing in a familiar office, waiting for his therapist to come in. And finally the door opened. Barney turned around

"Okay, so your therapist is currently sick, so they told me to ..."

"_Kevin?!_"

"Barney?"

The two men stood still, looking at each other. Not one of them believed their eyes.

"Well ... This is going to be one of the most awkward conversations ever," said Barney and started to leave. "Perhaps I better go and come in, when doctor Hill is going to feel better."

"Wait, Barney," said Kevin. "We were friends before. It might calm you down a little to talk to me. Not as a psychiatrist, but as a friend. Please, seat down."

Barney hesitated for a moment and then did as he was told to.

"Okay, I won't ask you why you change your name when you applied here, because I don't think I want to know. So, what happened?" asked Kevin. "I ran through your file and by what doctor Hill highlighted, it seems you have some serious issues about a broken heart. Mind telling me what is it about?"

"Yeah, that's the reason I wanted to go," said Barney and sighed. "It's about ... Robin."

Kevin looked at him with wide eyes. He hadn't heard that name ever since he and Robin broke up.

"What about her?" he asked.

"I can't talk to you about it. It would be too weird, considering you guys almost got married," BArney shook his head. Kevin smiled.

"Barney, I'm over Robin. I got married a few months ago," he told him. Barney didn't say anything. Kevin thought a little, how he could break the ice and then remembered the perfect thing to say. "Did RObin ever tell you how we met?"

"Yeah, she said you were her therapist," Barney said. Kevin laughed.

"Not quite," he said. "The court made Robin come here. She assaulted a woman."

"Whaaaat?" Barney asked in a high voice. "Robin in a chick fight? How did I not know about it?"

"She didn't want you to find out. Ever," Kevin said.

"Did she tell you all about it? Did she go into details?" Barney asked. Kevin rolled his eyes, smiling at the memory.

"Yeah, she even told me more details than I needed to know. About how the she got into a fight," he said.

"The other girl probably cut in line in front of Robin." Barney laughed at the thought.

"Not exactly," said Kevin. "It was a little longer story than that. And it involved you mostly."

"Really?" asked Barney.

"Yes," nodded Kevin. "It was around the time you wanted to prove to Nora you were the right boyfriend for her."

And then Kevin told Barney the whole story Robin has told him. How it was breaking Robin's heart watching him doing things for Nora that he never did for her. How she got drunk under her table twice and how she beat up that blonde bimbo that wanted to meet Barney for that misunderstanding with the voicemail. The only thing he left out was that thing with Marshall, Lily and Ted.

Barney listened to the whole story. At the end it all dawned to him.

"Robin loved me?"

"Maybe she still does," Kevin said. "You know when we were on that boat? The night you broke up with Nora?"

Barney nodded slowly. Kevin stayed silent and they both knew what the silence meant.

"I still don't want to know what happened between you two, but I saw there was something and I know for sure that because of that you broke up with Nora," he said after a while. Barney didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry." He thought it was the most appropriate thing. Kevin smiled.

"I saw you guys had chemistry. I always feared she will dump for you, but that didn't happen," he said. "But enough about the past. Why are you here?"

"It's a long story," said Barney. "And I don't really know, where to start."

"We have time," said Kevin. "And it would be the best if you start on the beginning."

"Okay." Barney took a breath. "Seven years ago, when Lily and Marshall got engaged, Ted saw Robin across the crowded room and I said: 'Oh, yeah, you just know she likes it dirty.'"

Kevin rolled his eyes and leaned back on his chair. Bad choose of words.

He never understood, why Robin got in such precise details, when describing her assault and through the months he realized everyone from the gang liked telling the longest possible version of what happened to them.

"You know, you can just skip to what happened after Robin and I broke up," he said, but Barney didn't mind him.

"Well, I was awesome back then, but I couldn't deny to myself that there really was something about her. Something I've never seen before," Barney continued. "And after Ted screwed things up with her and she became our friend, I really started to like her. There were so many surprises about her. They fascinated me and angered me at the same time. I once tried to put my moves on her, but she liked Ted at that time, so we decided to forget about it, even though I didn't. Then a couple years later we found out about her being Robin Sparkles and I started liking her even more, but back then I thought I liked her only as a friend, until we hooked up one night. Then, not very long time later, Ted was in a car accident and when I rushed to the hospital to see him, I got hit by a bus too. My life flashed before my eyes, but only the things I love. So I saw my mum, my brother, James, Ted, Lily, Marshall, suits ... And mostly Robin."

"You fell in love with her," Kevin tried to summarize it.

"Actually, I think I loved her before, I just didn't see it," Barney shrugged. "I only told Lily, since she knew something was up. She, of course, told Marshall, so they were the only ones who knew I was in love with Robin for eight months, until I finally asked Ted for his approval – I think Ted knew by himself I had feelings for her – and she heard me say I loved her. Lily and Marshall gave her the idea to _Mosby_ me."

"To what?"

"That's how we call it. When Ted saw Robin for the first time, he told her he loved her and that's why they didn't become a couple right away," Barney explained and then continued.

"Then Ted got beat up by a female goat, so we went to the hospital to make sue he was alright. Robin and I talked everything through, so we cleared out we both had some feelings for each other. Sort of. We argued, if she mosbied me or not and then kissed as an ending of a discussion. We went on the whole summer, secretly hooking up and became boyfriend and girlfriend when Lily locked us in Robin's bedroom to have the talk. We started dating, I got fat, her hair fell out, we broke up and I started sleeping around again. After a while I started dating Nora, she started dating you ..."

"You can leave out, whatever happened between you two that time and continue from where I wasn't in the picture anymore," Kevin cut him of. Barney nodded.

"I met some girl Quinn, who was a stripper and we fell in love. I asked her to marry me, she said yes and when we went to meet little Marvin ..."

"Who?"

"Oh, right. Lily and Marshall's son. He was six months old last week," Barney explained.

"They have a son? That's amazing! Congratulate them for me, when you see them. But now get back to the point," said Kevin.

"So, when we announced our engagement, Quinn asked Robin and LIly to be her bridesmaids. She didn't know I used to date Robin. When Robin asked me about it and was convinced Quinn will find out eventually, I told her I destroyed every proof of us being a couple," Barney continued.

"That's cold," Kevin commented.

"I didn't, really. I stored all the memories in a box in some garage I rented. I couldn't just erase the best memories of my life. Anyway, Quinn found out we were dating and got angry, we almost even broke up. Then Robin told us she had a boyfriend and only after that Quinn let it go. Robin told me she was upset I threw away all the evidence that we were ever a couple and I told her about the box and gave her the keys of the garage. Then I broke up with Quinn, because we realized we couldn't trust each other and Robin wanted to break up with Nick, her new boyfriend, because she realized he was as dumb as a stick. I decided to give her a little push and when I saw she won't be able to do it, I had enough. I decided to step in."

Barney paused for some time. "I order to make Nick realize they were done, I ... confessed my love to her. I keep saying, I was just acting, but I was never more sincere my entire life."

Kevin looked at him in silence. He remembered Barney as some guy, who would do anything to get laid. He never thought it was going to be that same guy, who was so incredibly in love with a woman.

"How long ago did this happen?" he asked. Barney let out a breath.

"About a week or two."

"Then why are you here now?"

"She's driving me crazy!" Barney cried and stood up. "I can't even sleep at night, because there is always something she said on my mind and if I don't see her for a day I can't sleep, because I start to miss her and the day turned out to be a mess. It's hard for me to breathe when she's around and even harder when she's not! I want her to know, how I feel, but then again, I don't. I swear I'm gonna die, if she keeps torturing me like this."

Kevin couldn't say anything. He could not believe that the lovesick puppy in front of him was the greatest womanizer of all time. Robin once told him of some horrible stuff he did to women.

"I once said this to Robin. You are being a very good friend," Kevin finally said, when Barney sat back down, hiding his face in his palms. "Robin beat a woman up to help you to your happiness and you helped her break up with someone who you knew wasn't right for her."

"I want to make her happy more than I want to live," Barney sat up straighter and looked Kevin. "So ... What's your prescription, doc?"

"If you want to make her happy, you can do two things," Kevin said. "You can stand by her side like a loyal friend, watching her find the perfect guy for her and get married with him."

Barney nodded in defeat. It really seemed like a good option. He won't get in her way with his own feelings and in he will try to stuff them down to the bottom corner of his heart, like he did many times before.

"Or ..." Barney's head shot back up and hopeful eyes watched Kevin, as he said the most amazing thing.

"You can be the _right_ guy, who she will marry."

Barney knew, what he had to do. He stood up, thanked Kevin for help and went out. He didn't bother calling a cab. He just walked straight to MacLarren's.

"Ted, it doesn't matter how many times you repeat it, it won't make it true," Robin said. Lily and Marshall already went home and I was now constantly repeating the same sentence over and over again in hope Robin will finally agree to it.

"You love Barney, you love Barney, you love Barney, you lo... Damn it I have to go to the toilet, I can't hold it any longer," I said and went to the bathroom. Well, I stopped at the jukebox. I didn't really have to pee, I just saw Barney coming in and I wanted to leave them alone for a little while.

"Hey, Robin, I thought you'd go to work by now," Barney said and sat down on the other side of the booth, ordering a scotch. I sat down in the second booth so I could hear, what they were talking about. A couple, that was sitting there looked at me strangely, but I motioned them not to say a thing.

"It's Saturday, Barney," Robin reminded him. The couple I was sitting with started to listen to their conversation too, not sure, why was it so important.

"I, haha, yeah, I know," Barney laughed nervously. They were quiet for some time and I didn't have to turn around and look at them to know exactly what they were doing. They just sat there in silence, both wondering, what they should say.

"Are you alone?" Barney asked.

"No," Robin answered. "Ted just went to the bathroom."

The couple looked at me again, assuming I was Ted. I put a finger on my lips, to tell them to keep quiet.

"Where did you run off to?" Robin asked after another large amount of an awkward silence.

"Laser tag."

"Barney."

"Okay, not laser tag."

"Where did you go?"

"I needed some fresh air."

"Why?"

There was a short silence. They were looking in each others eyes, not caring about the world anymore.

"I needed some advice," Barney finally answered truthfully.

"From whom?" Robin asked, a little confused.

"At first I thought from someone I pay to trust, but then I got advice from someone I even know," Barney said. He didn't give any straight answer to Robin. He was a little afraid, how she would react.

"What was the advice?" Robin asked, after she couldn't read his face. There was another short silence. Barney's face was ever so serious and his eye were sparkling with hopeful innocence.

"Will you marry me?"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, here's the second and last chapter to this story. I hope there aren't so many spelling mistakes here. I think I corrected all of them, but I'm not very sure :P enjoy reading and review ;D

P.S. Thank you for all the nice comments you left for the first chapter :D

P.P.S. If anyone didn't get it, I tried writing in Ted's POV, like in the actual series :P

I couldn't believe my ears. My mouth hung opened. Did Barney really just ...

I risked a look towards them. The expression on Robin's face was similar to mine. She didn't seem to notice me. Her eyes were fixed on Barney, who watched right back with a hopeful, but sincere glance.

Wendy the waitress put a scotch in front of Barney and left soon, since she felt the tension between the two.

"W-what?" Robin finally managed to say, trying to recover from the shock Barney's question caused. Barney took a deep breath, suddenly feeling stupid. Of course she was going to say no. She didn't want to get married. At least, not with him.

He drank the scotch in one sip and put the glass back on the table.

"I should go," he said and stood up. "Sorry for saying that."

"Barney, wait ..." Robin was about to go after him, when I stood up and stopped her.

"Ted!" She jumped, when she saw me. "How long have you been sitting there?"

"Long enough," I told her with a meaningful look.

"I have to go talk to Barney," she said, looking past me to the exit.

"No," I said. "I'll talk to Barney. You must calm yourself."

"I'm perfectly calm," Robin defended herself.

"You're practically shaking," I told her. Robin sighed, wanting to argue, but I cut her off. "I'm his best bro. I'll talk to him."

Robin stood still for a moment, not knowing what to say or do. Then she nodded, thanked me and said goodbye as I left the bar.

I went to Barney's apartment immediately. I knocked on the door several times, but he didn't answer.

"Barney?" I asked and hopelessly tried to open the door. It wasn't locked. I slowly stepped in and saw one of my best friends in looking more pathetic than ever.

Barney was sitting on his black leather sofa. His elbows were resting on his knees and he looked emptily in space before him.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him. He didn't answer. He didn't even seem to notice me.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered the question. I just stood there, not knowing what to do. He looked at me. His eyes were glowing with hurt. I could not believe it was _Barney_ before me. Never before did I imagine him being so ... So _broken_ by a woman.

"I heard what you asked Robin," I said when I finally found my voice.

"Then you know I made a total ass of myself," Barney answered and stood up. His face was emotionless and his voice was cold.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, already knowing what his answer will be.

"No."

"Alright," I said and took a step further in the apartment. "I guess I'll just talk to myself, then."

Barney rolled his eyes in annoyance. He just wanted to be alone and I knew that. But, if I left him alone, he would do something stupid like trying to push his feelings aside again.

"I never thought I'd hear you say that," I said. Barney snorted.

"Asking a girl to marry me?" he asked. "Because I did this already."

"No," I shook my head. "I meant what you said in Splitsville to break Robin and Nick up."

Barney's shot up at me. "What are you talking about?"

"What, did you think Robin's phone just magically turned off when you started your speech?" I asked with a faint laughter. "Not even I was ever that cheesy."

"Excuse me, but were you not in the same room every time you quoted any love poems? Or when you organized a two-minute date with that what's-her-face?" Barney asked me. "And for the record, I was just pretending to actually feel that. I wanted them to break up."

"And why was that again?" I laughed. "And I'm sorry, but you were as sincere as ever."

Unwillingly, a smile spread across Barney's face. "I know," he said and laughed. "I really sounded just like you. So cheesy, romantic, not awesome ..."

"Okay, I get it," I cut him off as I started to get annoyed.

"I screwed everything up with Robin, didn't i?" he asked me, becoming a pathetic shadow of the awesome Barney I know again.

"I wouldn't say so," I said. "No matter what, I dated Robin and she gave in because of my overly romantic rain dance."

"Yeeaah, about that," Barney said. By the look on his face I knew I won't like what he had to say.

"Okay, what did you do?" I sighed.

"You know, how Robin was happy when you came to her in the rain?" Barney asked. I nodded, still not liking where this was going. "Well ..."

_Barney came in MacLarren's bar. He automatically looked at their usual booth. He knew he won't see me, since he just left me on the roof, pathetically (as he said) trying to make it rain. He didn't see Lily or Marshall either. He only saw Robin, slowly drinking her beer._

_He walked to the bar counter and got himself a scotch. Then he got to the booth, sliding down in the booth, across from her._

_"Hello, Robin," he smirked. "It's just you and me, I guess."_

_"Don't you have any girls to hit on?" Robin said, clearly not in the mood for talking to Barney. Barney mockingly looked around the bar._

_"Nope, you're the hottest girl here," he shrugged._

_"Then it's time for me to go home. I wouldn't want to shadow any blonde bimbo and get her thinking you wouldn't be interested," Robin said as she finished her drink. Barney watched Robin getting out of the booth._

_"Aw, come on, Scherbatsky, can't you handle a little of Barnicle?" Barney asked and wiggled his eyebrows. Robin stood at the booth for a moment, looking at Barney, as if she was thinking if she should stay or go._

_"No, thanks, Barney. It's getting late and frankly I'm a little scared with what you might have in mind," she finally said and turned to leave, when Barney jumped up and grabbed her hand._

_"Come on, Robin. Just one more drink. It can't hurt," Barney said. Robin bit her lip, deep in thought._

_"Oh, what the heck. One more beer can't hurt," she finally shrugged and they both sat back down._

_**I'll be honest with you kids. It wasn't just one drink.**_

_"And then he decided to do a ... Wait for it ... A rain dance!" Barney laughed and Robin's laugh followed right after._

_"Seriously? Why the hell would he do that for?" Robin asked._

_"I have no idea. He said something about a new way of exercise, but I didn't really listen to him," Barney said. Though he was drunk, he was still enough of a bro not to tell Robin the whole story._

_"So he wants to make it rain?" Robin asked. "Why does he want to do that? And, by the way, it so won't work."_

_"Yeah, I've told him that," Barney laughed. "I would bet a thousand bucks he won't make it rain."_

_Even though a small voice in Robin's voice was screaming, he's right, Ted could never pull this off, she did something she wasn't very proud of._

_"I'll take you on that bet," she smirked and extended her hand for Barney to shake it. Barney raised an eyebrow and shook her hand to seal the deal._

_A few days later, after Robin and I have already been dating, Barney and Robin somehow ended up in their booth alone again. I went to work and Lily and Marshall went to get the next round for the four of them._

_"I won," Robin smirked. It took Barney a few seconds to remember their bet. He smirked and pulled out his wallet._

_"Go and buy your girlfriend something nice," he joked as he handed her a a thousand dollars._

_"Nah, I think I'll keep it to myself," Robin smiled and put the money in her jeans pocket._

"No," I said. "That _did not_ happen."

Barney laughed. Though his laughter didn't reach his eyes, he enjoyed the moment.

"How else do you think she got money for Argentina after you two broke up. She told me the money came in very helpful, like all the money she earned when I challenged her to day idiotic stuff on metro new one," he said. His smile vanished. "I'll never be able to look her in the eyes after that."

Robin stayed at the bar for a long time and after the fifth scotch decided to go up to Lily and Marshall's apartment. She needed to talk to someone. She knocked on the door lightly until Lily came to open the door and letting her in. Marshall was sitting on the couch, playing with Marvin.

"Hi, Robin, what's up?" Lily asked her. When she noticed Robin's blank face expression and a little fear in her eyes, she asked worriedly: "Is everything alright?"

"Something happened," Robin said. Lily let her in and Robin didn't move at first, but then she slowly walked to the couch and sat down next to Marshall.

"What is it?" Lily asked her.

"It's Barney," Robin said slowly, like it was hard for her to talk.

"Did something happen to him? Is he alright?" Marshall asked.

"I hope he is. And nothing happened to him, it's more about something he said to me," Robin said.

"Come on, Robin, even Marvin could tell a story faster than you do," Marshall said and lifted little Marvin in the air and back down on his knees. Robin said a deep breath, preparing to say what she had to.

"Barney asked me to marry him."

Marshall and Lily looked at Robin wide-eyed with jaws dropped. Lily soon recovered and smiled.

"He did?" she asked happily. "What did you say."

"I didn't have any time to say anything," Robin said. "He apologized to me for saying that and left."

"Wait a second ... Have you two been dating in secret again?" Lily asked suspiciously. Robin laughed and shook head. She felt her eyes water, though she didn't know why, and blinked the tears away.

"No, we didn't," she said.

"Then why did he ask you?" Marshall asked.

"I don't know," Robin said. "But the weirdest thing is that the thing which surprised the most wasn't the fact that he asked. I remember how on the night Ted and I broke up, there was some mix up with champagne glasses and engagement rings and when I thought Ted was going to propose, my reaction was a countless repetition of saying no and how he couldn't do this to me. I don't get it. Ted is the nicest guy. So why was it, when Barney asked just like that, out of the blue, I didn't even think of saying no?"

Lily's smile only got bigger. "You still love him."

"Of course I do!" Robin exclaimed. "I never stopped!"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Marshall asked.

"I wanted to push my feelings away. I knew nothing will come of it," Robin said.

"Okay, you guys need to have the talk ... Again," Lily said. "You can't be just in love with each other and pretend there's nothing between you."

"We're not gonna have the talk, Lily," Robin said.

"You are at the point of thinking about marrying each other!" Lily cried. "You need to define what you guys are now. It's oblivious you aren't just friends anymore."

"Whatever," Robin said and stood up. "It's getting late. I'm gonna go home, I need some time to myself."

They said their goodbyes and Robin left. She went out on the streets, called a cab and directed the driver to her home.

_**At least, that what she at first thought she should've done.**_

"Where to?" asked the cab driver. Robin thought for a second. She didn't want to go home. Without thinking, she told the driver Barney's address.

It wasn't a long drive and while sitting in the cab, she thought about what was she doing, going to see Barney. She looked at her watch. It was nearly two a.m. She was drunk and confused and in love. Plus, nothing good ever happened after two a.m.

She opened her mouth to tell the driver to take her home, when the cab stopped and the driver announced they were here. She took a deep breath and handed him the money. She got out, holding her breath, to afraid to even breathe. She didn't take the elevater in the building, she decided to walk the stairs, so she would have more time to think about what she will say.

She had a whole speech ready when she reached Barney's apartment, but then suddenly her legs started to feel heavy and she could barely get herself to the door of Barney's apartment. She knocked on the door.

Barney and I were just sitting in silence at that time. I didn't know what else I could say to comfort him and he just wanted some silence anyway. When there was a knock on the door Barney stood up and went to open it. He was surprised when he saw Robin.

And as son as Robin saw Barney the whole speech she put together erased itself and her head became blank.

"Yes," was the only thing she was able to say. Barney didn't know what she meant with that.

"What?" he asked, oping she will give him an explanation. Robin's lips curved into a big smile.

"Yes, Barney, I will marry you," she said and kissed him. Barney, surprised and happy by what she said, kissed her back, wrapped his arms around her waist. He never wanted to let go again.

I was left forgotten on the couch. I smiled at the two. I felt so happy because they finally found each other and later I realized I should've felt even happier. Because, as you know, on heir wedding was when I met your mother.


End file.
